Unique energy sector on-line map is presented in Ukraine

16 July 20172052

On July 14, 2017, within the USAID Transparent Energy Project, experts of the DiXi Group Think Tank presented an on-line map suggested to be used as a platform for enhancing transparency in the energy sector.

Its authors aimed to collect the maximum amount of data on all FEC sectors on one and the same Internet platform, in a format suitable for processing.

According to the map developers, it should clearly show which information in the energy sector is available, and the disclosure of which still requires a lot of work. For ease of use, the map materials are divided into four sectors: electricity, heat, gas, and oil products. The provided data will be updated on a regular basis.

Olena Pavlenko, President of the DiXi Group, emphasized that the map will be useful both for journalists and consumers: "A journalist will get an opportunity to better understand the arrangement of the Ukrainian energy sector, its connections, etc.; and a consumer – an opportunity to understand how the "product" is generated, as well as an opportunity to be better informed and use that in their communication with energy companies supplying energy resources.

Such opinion was also supported by the expert of the Natural Resource Governance Institute(NRGI) Rob Pitman. According to him, the map provides us with two important things, transparency and public awareness, as the citizens will now have an opportunity and ability to use information about the Ukrainian energy sector.

The map provides an easy way to understand how the energy sector works. Thus, every consumer has an opportunity to learn:

through whose hands electricity goes before entering the house;

what way gas passes before getting into the gas stove;

what distance heat passes before heating radiators in the room;

how the fuel gets to your favorite fuel filling station.

"It's about information that is not yet available in a machine-readable format, or in open registers," explains DiXi Group Program ManagerRoman Nitsovych. "Most of the materials have already been published by us in a visually attractive format, with an opportunity to download files in the format of open data. Yes, along with the above mentioned, there is still a lot to be done. And we realized that when we were collecting information." As Mr. Nitsovych said, the map allows you to see what the domestic energy sector looks like and has a convenient navigation bar, as well as offers the user not only processed information, but also the sets of data that everyone (journalists and consumers, etc.) can use and deal with in future.

The map components available at the Ukrainian Energy website (ua-energy.org) include four levels of information. The first level is introductory, containing general information; the second level is the collected database; the third level is the base of related investigations, and the last one is the "black boxes" (FEC sectors containing the largest number of shadow schemes or hidden data).

It is expected that the map will be updated on a regular basis, thanks to new journalistic investigations, expert opinions and communication with the audience. That is, every citizen who cares may contribute to the map improvement.

USAID Transparent Energy Project was launched in November 2016. It aims to fight corruption and improve financial transparency in Ukraine's energy sector. This is to be achieved by way of disclosure, analysis and publication of information about the energy sector, which is either protected or public access to which is restricted.

The release of this material was made possible due to the support of the American people provided through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The opinions contained in this material are solely the responsibility of the DiXi Group and under no circumstances can they be considered as reflecting the position of the USAID or the US Government.